I’ve had to watch my spending this year. Haven’t you? Is there anyone who hasn’t, except for those on Wall Street who still got big bonuses, but that’s a topic for another blog.
So I was not surprised to learn this morning that the $475M set aside in President Obama’s 2010 budget for Great Lakes Restoration projects has been reduced to $300M for 2011. At least the project wasn’t entirely chopped and the $300M can still go a long way to cleaning up our waters. EPA still cites invasive species including the dreaded Asian carp as a top priority for the project.
If you read the comments on some of the websites from newspapers around the Great Lakes, the responses range from those similar to mine to those who think the entire budget should have been cut and all the money put into jobs for Great Lakers. If I were out of work, I might say the same, but it seems that it should not have to be a choice between jobs and Great Lakes cleanup. Restoration projects employ workers. FDR knew that back in the 30’s. How about creating jobs and restoring the lakes?
$475M would have been nice but $300M is way better than nothing.
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Hello Susan,
That reduction would be for 2011, correct? I know that 2010 was funded in the mid-400 million dollar level (the bill came out of the House and Senate at different funding levels and was supposed to be reconciled in committee). It's interesting to note that it is estimated that the Great Lakes region will get $2 back for every $1 the GLRI invests.
-Loreen
http://laketrek.blogspot.com
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